Search Results for: Schedule

Plan Schedule Management

The project schedule is an important aspect in project management since it serves as the timeline of the project. Without the project schedule, it will be difficult for everyone in the team to do the tasks within the specified period.

Thus, the Plan Schedule Management is important in managing the project schedule. This is a process that establishes the procedures, policies as well as documentation to plan, develop, manage, execute and control the project schedule.

The main advantage of this process is to provide guidance as well as direction on how the project schedule will be managed by the project manager throughout the project’s lifecycle. It is important for the project manager to use the project management plan, project charter, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets to create the schedule management plan.

This particular project management process is very important because it helps the project managers plan the appropriate schedule for its team members to deliver the product, services or results within a given time. Lastly, it is important that any changes in the Plan Schedule Management process should be documented.

This term is defined in the 5th edition of the PMBOK.

Develop Schedule

In project management, developing an efficient schedule is very important. A good schedule will let the stakeholders of the project to use their time wisely to deliver results. Moreover, it also ensures that the project life cycle will be able to meet the necessary deadline.

To develop a schedule, project managers need to analyze activity sequences, resource requirements, durations and schedule constraints to create the project schedule. The advantage of this process is that by using different inputs and resources like schedule activities, duration, logical relationship and resource ability with the scheduling tool, it creates a schedule model with the planned dates for completing the project activities.

There are different project management tools and techniques involved in developing a schedule and these include the schedule network analysis, critical path method, critical chain method, resource optimization techniques, modeling techniques, leads and lags, schedule compression and scheduling tool.

Once project managers are able to develop a schedule for their projects, it will lead to different yet critically important outputs which include generation of schedule baseline, project schedule, schedule data, project calendars, project document updates and project management plan updates. All of these outputs are necessary for schedule plan management.

Developing a project schedule is an iterative activity. This means that one activity cannot proceed without completing it. However, you can also assign tasks to schedules that are not constrained by time. Doing projects without following a schedule is like driving without having any idea on how you are going to get to your destination. The thing is that no matter the size of the project, having a good schedule is important in project management. An adequately planned schedule tells you when an activity should be done or when it should have been finished.

This term is defined in the 5th edition of the PMBOK.

Control Schedule

Control schedule is a process in project management that involves monitoring the status of activities related to a particular project. Aside from monitoring the status, it also involves updating of the project process as well as managing the changes to the schedule in order to achieve the plan.

Comparing the progress of the project against a scheduled baseline allows project managers to determine if a particular project activity is ahead or behind the schedule. Project managers can then plan on corrective actions to manage the changes to the baseline schedule. This will reduce the risk of delivery of the products or services especially when it is managed well.

The control schedule process is part of the controlling and monitoring process group of project management. The key principle of this process is that the changes should not just be reacted to but should also be controlled proactively. This task falls on the project manager and it is important that the project manager acts immediately before the changes affect or influence the entire project schedule.

Another aspect of the control schedule process is that it manages the expectations of the stakeholders by means of giving them advice when work needs to be performed including the type of work and its duration. It is carried out throughout the entire project after the schedule has been developed until all the activities have been completed.

It is important to know the actual performance of the schedule. Any schedule baseline can be approved using the Perform Integrated Change Control process. With the control schedule process, it allows project managers to determine the status of the project schedule, conducting reviews, reprioritizing remaining work plan, determining that there is indeed a change of the project schedule and managing actual changes.

This term is defined in the 5th edition of the PMBOK.

Schedule Compression Methodology

Tom · Nov 13, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Schedule compression is a technique used in project management to create output faster without changing the actual scope of a project. Sometimes, there is a tangible benefit to significantly shortening the project timeline. For example, this might be the case when:

A competitor is preparing to release a similar product or concept and your company wants to be first on the market
Anticipated changes in economic landscape, political climate or environmental conditions are likely to derail the project unless it is completed ASAP
A client is offering additional monetary incentive for a rush job
There are several subsequent, related projects planned which are dependent on the timely completion of the current project
Your organization is aware of the opportunity to bid on a new, highly lucrative project in the near future but doesn’t have enough resources to handle two projects simultaneously

In these situations, it makes sense to at least consider schedule compression.

Option 1

One potential approach is referred to as “crashing”. This involves weighing the additional costs associated with doing a rush job with the benefits of meeting the newly proposed deadline. There are both obvious and concealed costs involved in this project management practice. Expedited shipping for any materials used in manufacturing an item might be a readily apparent cost. The risk that the QC department may miss an important quality issue if they are rushed in their work is an example of a potential hidden cost.

The goal of crashing is to determine the perfect balance between shortening the schedule and keeping costs low. Sometimes the tradeoff is simply too costly and the idea of schedule compression must be abandoned entirely. Project managers should tread cautiously when the push for an earlier completion date is not coming from the same people who have the authority to approve increases in cost.

Option 2

Putting a project on the fast track is another way to achieve a more rapid output. This can sometimes be done when the resources that have already been approved are immediately available to be allocated as needed. This project management approach involves completing multiple phases of a project simultaneously instead of in sequence. Just like parallel processing increases the speed of computing, having several teams working on various work packages at the same time can cut schedule times significantly.

There are risks associated with fast tracking. For example, there is a greater chance of errors when schedule activities are started without the detailed information that would have been available if the team had followed the original project timeline. Mistakes that require work to be redone can end up increasing the time to completion and may negate the whole purpose of the schedule compression effort. The risk management plan should be fully reviewed before fast tracking is attempted.

Schedule Performance Index

The Schedule Performance Index is a measure of project efficiency given by Project Management to gauge the progress and efficiency. A Schedule Performance Index score of 1 or greater is an optimum goal since it shows the Project Management that the project is on track and has favorable conditions of meeting the required goals. However, a of Schedule Performance Index less than 1 is to be avoided since that shows the project is not meeting goals and is showing unfavorable conditions that could lead to project failure if the current course of action is allowed to continue. If the is Schedule Performance Index showing a trend that is at or approaching 1, the Project Management will re-evaluate the current conditions of the project and begin an analysis of the current project trends and begin corrective actions. If the Schedule Performance Index trend is rising, the Project Management w ill analyze the goals and the current favorable conditions to possibly re assess the project’s short term goals. The Schedule Performance Index is a ratio of Earned Value (EV) to the Planned Value (PV). Earned Value is the value of the project at its current timeframe. Planned Value is the overall projected value of the project at the same time as the Earned Value. To determine the project’s Schedule Performance Index the Project Management divides the EV by the PV. This can also be shown as a simple formula; SPI=EV/Pv.

This term is defined in the 3rd and the 4th edition of the PMBOK.